More than 120 farm buildings lost due to snow

State agriculture officials said all the heavy, wet snow has damaged or destroyed more than 120 farm structures.

The state's agriculture commissioner said most of the buildings were hoop houses, which are made of sheets of plastic stretched over bent metal hoops.

Officials said many of the structures are not insured.

"This is the worst one I've seen in 30 years," said Anthony Allen of Filanowski & Sons.

There were eight roof collapses at Filanowski & Sons in Milford because of snow dropped by Blizzard Charlotte.

"We didn't expect the storm to be half as bad as it was," Allen said. "If we would have not cut the greenhouses, we would have probably lost all of them."

The plastic on about 90 percent of the greenhouses at Filanowski & Sons was cut to prevent greater damage. Many of the greenhouses were empty, which was lucky for employees at Filanowski & Sons because they are close to the open of the season.

Casertano Farms in Cheshire lost 25 greenhouses.

"It's not so much the insurance," Allen said. "It's the labor. It's more work taking the building down than it is to rebuild a new one."

Allen said they have to get rid of all the snow before employees can begin fixing the greenhouses.

"A lot of the product is going to be held off at least two or three weeks or more to get the place cleaned up," he said.